NewsUpper SchoolAcademics
Web Site to Offer More Information
May 1, 2000 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
When the 2000 –2001 academic year begins, Darlington will embark on an upgraded web program designed to enhance the school’s communications between parents, students, and faculty. Improvements to the school’s web site primarily apply to new parent and student home pages, both within the Darlington web site. From these pages, parents and students will be able to access a large amount of information including, through a secured area, student information.
Students and parents will be able to view class schedules, homework, classwork, class averages, comments, tardies, and absences on a daily basis. Direct links to faculty home pages and the ability to send a quick message to faculty members will also be available. Discipline records will be posted much like they were this past year.
These web-site expansions are being implemented to give parents more information concerning their children’s progress in a more timely manner than current systems can accomodate.
Currently, faculty enter grades only every four weeks, after which they are mailed home and posted to a secure area of the web site. With the new system, teachers will be able to enter grades daily if they wish—with mandatory updates on a four-week basis. Absences, tardies, homework, and discipline records will also be updated as much as every day. Grades will be mailed home only at the end of each trimester, but may be viewed at any time through Darlington’s web site. Any day a student’s records are updated, an e-mail will be sent to the student and his or her parents.
“I want people to be excited about this new system, not just concerned about the changes. Next year we will be providing more information than we have ever given before. It’s just a different medium, and requires a mental shift from holding a piece of paper to seeing it on a screen,” Stefan Eady, director of publications, said.
Parents concerned about gaining access to the Web are encouraged to explore all their options. Most public libraries offer Internet access free of charge. Darlington also welcomes parents to use the school library computers to access the Internet. For those who have a computer with a modem, but no Internet provider, there are a growing number of free dial-up services available.
Darlington is also moving the following publications from print form to the web site: summer reading, summer session, honor code, Upper School student handbooks, and the college guidebook. The Upper School Curriculum Guide and Lower and Middle School handbooks will be posted to the web and also be in print.
Students and parents will be able to view class schedules, homework, classwork, class averages, comments, tardies, and absences on a daily basis. Direct links to faculty home pages and the ability to send a quick message to faculty members will also be available. Discipline records will be posted much like they were this past year.
These web-site expansions are being implemented to give parents more information concerning their children’s progress in a more timely manner than current systems can accomodate.
Currently, faculty enter grades only every four weeks, after which they are mailed home and posted to a secure area of the web site. With the new system, teachers will be able to enter grades daily if they wish—with mandatory updates on a four-week basis. Absences, tardies, homework, and discipline records will also be updated as much as every day. Grades will be mailed home only at the end of each trimester, but may be viewed at any time through Darlington’s web site. Any day a student’s records are updated, an e-mail will be sent to the student and his or her parents.
“I want people to be excited about this new system, not just concerned about the changes. Next year we will be providing more information than we have ever given before. It’s just a different medium, and requires a mental shift from holding a piece of paper to seeing it on a screen,” Stefan Eady, director of publications, said.
Parents concerned about gaining access to the Web are encouraged to explore all their options. Most public libraries offer Internet access free of charge. Darlington also welcomes parents to use the school library computers to access the Internet. For those who have a computer with a modem, but no Internet provider, there are a growing number of free dial-up services available.
Darlington is also moving the following publications from print form to the web site: summer reading, summer session, honor code, Upper School student handbooks, and the college guidebook. The Upper School Curriculum Guide and Lower and Middle School handbooks will be posted to the web and also be in print.
